Post on 20-Aug-2018
Development of Hominids � Animals adapt themselves to environment
� Hominids adapt environment to themselves � Use of tools
� Language � Complex cooperative social structures
Australopithecus � “The southern ape” – Despite name a hominid
� Discovery of skeleton AL-288-1, north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia � Nicknamed “Lucy”
� 40% of SWF, 3’5”, 55lb., bipedal, Brain 500 cc (modern human: 1400 cc), limited speech but opposable digit
� Estimated date of death: 3.5 million years ago
Later Hominids � Homo Erectus, “upright man”
� Larger brain capacity (1000 cc), improved tool use, control of fire
� Homo Sapiens, “consciously thinking human”
� Largest brain, esp. frontal regions
� Most sophisticated tools and social organization
� Migrations of Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens
The Natural Environment � By 13,000 BCE Homo sapiens in every inhabitable
part of the world
� Archaeological finds: � Sophisticated tools
� Choppers, scrapers, axes, knives, bows, arrows
� Cave and hut like dwellings
� Use of fire, animal skins
� Hunted several mammal species to extinction � Climactic change may have accelerated process
Relative Social Equality � Nomadic culture precludes accumulation of land-
based wealth � More likely determinants of status: age, hunting skill,
fertility, personality � Possible gender equality related to food production � Men: protein from hunting
� Women: plant gathering
Paleolithic Era (“Old Stone Age”)
� Evidence: � Archaeological finds
� Extrapolation from modern hunter-gatherer societies
� Nomadic existence precludes advanced civilization � Groups of 30-50 � Division of labor along gender lines
Big Game Hunting � Evidence of intelligent coordination of hunting
expeditions � Development of weaponry
� Animal-skin disguises � Stampeding tactics
� Lighting of fires, etc. to drive game into kill zones
� Requires planning, communication
Paleolithic Settlements � Natufian society
� Modern Israel and Jordan � Wild wheat, herding
� Jomon society � Japan � Wild buckwheat, fishing
� Chinook society � Pacific Northwest � Berries, acorns, salmon runs
� Groups of 1000 or more
Neandertal Peoples � Neander valley, western Germany
� Flourished in Europe & SW Asia, 200,000 – 35,000 years ago
� Also found in Africa, east Asia
� Evidence of spirituality: ritual burial
� Inhabited some of the same areas as Homo sapiens
Creativity of Homo sapiens � Constructed flexible languages for communication
of complex ideas
� Increased variety of tools – stone blades, spear throwers, sewing needles, barbed harpoons
� Fabricated ornamental beads, necklaces and bracelets
� The bow and arrow – a dramatic improvement in humans power over nature
� “Venus” figurines
� Cave paintings
Neolithic Era (“New Stone Age”)
� Corresponds with the end of the last Ice Age
� Distinction in tool production � Chipped vs. polished
� Men: herding animals rather than hunting
� Women: nurtured vegetation rather than foraging
� Spread of Agriculture � Slash-and-and burn techniques � Exhaustion of soil promotes migration � Transport of crops from one region to another
Agriculture and Population Growth
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100
3000BCE
2000BCE
1000BCE
500 BCE
Population (millions)
Forming the Complex Society
� Basic development: � Hunting and Foraging
� Agriculture � Complex Society
� Key issue: surplus capital
� Major development of first complex societies 3500 BCE – 500 BCE
Early Agricultural Society � Emergence of villages and towns
� Discoveries at Çatal Hüyük – a prominent village located in Turkey, occupied 7250-5400 BCE � Pots, baskets, textiles, leather, stone, metal tools,
wood carvings, carpets, beads, and jewelry
� Development of crafts –pottery, metallurgy, and textile production
Social Distinctions � Accumulation of landed wealth initiates
development of social classes
� Individuals could trade surplus food for valuable items
� Archaeological evidence in variety of household decorations, goods buried with deceased members of society at Çatal Hüyük
Neolithic Culture � Farmers closely observed the natural world – an
early kind of applied science
� Elements of natural environment essential for functioning
� Archaeological evidence of religious worship: thousands of clay figurines, drawings on pots, tool decorations, other ritual objects � Fertility: Venus figurines
Beginnings of Urbanization � Jericho: concentration of wealth, building a wall
� Craft specialization
� Social stratification
� Governance
� Cultural workers
� Development of the city – a gradual process
The body of Tollund Man, a person from Iron Age Denmark. The corpse was preserved in bog deposits
for almost 2000 years.